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Friday, March 22, 2013

The Italian Marines Came Marching In

On arrival at Cochin yesterday from Rome
where he had gone to attend the Conclave to elect the Pope, Mar George Cardinal
Alencherry said that the Italian Marines who are to face trial for the killing
of two Kerala fishermen last year should return to India and submit themselves to the
Indian Judiciary. That has happened.

After the tumult and the
shouting, and trying to defy the Supreme Court of India, the Marines are back. But
judging by the past conduct of the Italians, we should not be surprised if they
come out with some absurd defence. For
instance they could claim that they were trying to shoot into the sky to test
the guns and hit the Indians by mistake.

Well, it is a question of
guns and shooting and aim. Swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth
in a Court of Law also could be as suspect as the accuracy of the shooting.
After all, Italy’s
military history is not all that great. It is probably the most invaded
geographic area in the world.

It is said that every time
the Italians are beaten in a war they got married to the women from the victor’s
side and the process went on repeating. Even in modern times Italy has not
learned winning ways. Of course they did beat the push-over Ethiopia in the
1930s. That is about all.

The point I want to establish
here is that a good soldier should be a man of honour. Since I don’t know
Italian, it is not possible for me to say whether there is a word equivalent to
‘honour’ in that language. An Ambassador trying to shy away from a solemn oath
does not paint the picture of admiration.

German Field Marshall Albert
Kesselring once said, “It is an established fact that the Italian armed forces
have not fought convincingly and successfullyeither in World War I or II.”
He also said, "The training remained superficial, without having reached a
satisfactory level.One only has to
closely watch a simple changing of the guard procedure to arrive at this
judgement.The Italian soldier was not a
soldier from within". (The quotes are from The Italian Military Enigma by Major Eric G. Hansen, U. S.
Marine Corps.)

Geographically too, the
Marines seem to have been way off the mark. Enrica
Lexie shot and killed the two fishermen on February 15, 2012 off the Kerala Coast.
I have not been able to locate any authority stating that it is High Risk Area
(HRA). No Somalian piracy has been reported from there. According to reports,
the Marines did not follow the proper procedure of informing the Indian
Authorities.

However, to be fair enough,
during the first three months of 2012, there have been three more cases of
mistaken identity happening along the West Coast of India. Warning shots were fired but fortunately no one got hurt.

According to sources, over
300,000 fishing boats operate along the coast of India. Great care has to be taken
by the Masters of the big vessels and the fishermen to avoid tragedies.
Recently there have been two or three cases of collusion along the Kerala Coast.